Cheap lenses that wowed you...

For me, it would have to be the 45mm f/4 and the 30mm f/5.6 lenses made by Fuji for the Hasselblad XPAN (although in all fairness, the 30/5.6 is not a budget priced lens; the 45/4 is pretty reasonably priced, but it is not cheap, either).

The 55mm f/3.5 micro Nikkor (manual focus) that I got for $100 many years ago is one of the best Nikkor lenses I have ever had. It is very sharp and contrasty and is in the same league as the Fuji lenses (above).

The 40mm f/2.8 Zeiss lens that is attached to my Rollei 35SE is an outstanding lens, too. I think the camera & lens together was around $280, so that is a bargain priced lens/camera, IMHO.
 
Thanks to this thread I now have 2 90/4 Rokkor lenses on the way (One Leitz and one Minolta) for about <$200 each... now if I can just be patient...

and the cheapest camera deal I've gotten was $60 for 2 Rolleiflex's
 
Ong said:
Thanks to this thread I now have 2 90/4 Rokkor lenses on the way (One Leitz and one Minolta) for about <$200 each... now if I can just be patient...
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It was my choice for a lens longer than 50mm, sufficient on the M. So I bought my second M-Rokkor, 30 years after the first. If I need to shoot seriously with long lenses, I take my FE-2 with for instance Tamron Adaptall SP 90/2.5 (only 25 years old)
 
Nikkor AF 50mm 1:1.8

Damn sharp, pretty much on par with my Konica M-Hexanon 50mm f/2. Great bokeh also.

I bought a Nikon N90 because I was surprised how goo my shots were that I took in the 90s with it. The one I got on eBay was only $92 with the 50mm lens and a Nikkor 35-80mm 1:4-5.6D. Then it turned out Dad had some older Nikon lenses and Macro rings that fit as well 🙂


 
Leica Elmar 5cm 3.5 (ltm)
Leica Hektor 13.5cm 4.5 (ltm)
Nikon 8.5cm 2.0 (ltm)
Canon 3.5cm 3.2 (ltm)
Fed-50 3.5 (ltm)
Nikon 5.5cm 1.2 (N/Ai)


To name a few.
 
I think under $100 is cheap....

Nikkor 55mm F3.5 non-AI $75
Canon bayonet-mount FD 50mm F3.5 Macro $50
Nikkor 105mm F2.5 Sonnar non-AI $75
Nikkor 105mm F2.5 Gauss AI $50
Nikkor 35mm F2 O non-AI $50
Nikkor 50mm F1.8 AF $60
Nikon series E 75-150mm f3.5
 
Almost any 50mm f1.8 lens in any format is great. Its a focal length and aperture that just works and so many have been made over so many years that designers have it down to a "T".
 
Old stuff, any of the Pentax 50mm lenses I've used (except the K50/f1.2, which was great but hardly cheap...):

SMC Pentax-M 50/f1.7 - I think I got it for free...
SMC Pentax-M 50/f1.4 - One of my all time favourites, about $90AUD.
SMC Takumar 50/f1.4 - Lovely on b&w, about $100 with a Spotmatic F.

Of the new stuff, it's hard to define 'cheap'. I picked up a VM 35/f2.5 Color Skopar for about $250AUD new with my M2, which I guess is relatively cheap, and I've loved using that...
 
Patience is the key in buying used. I purchased a nice Nikon 8.5cm f2 ltm, very clean glass, with original hood and dust cap for $200.
 
The Nikon 50mm F2 Non-AI really blew me away the first time I used it. It's pretty far down on the list of in-demand Nikon lenses, and not expensive these days, but what a fine lens - exceptionally well-made and a pleasure to use too!
 
David Murphy said:
The Nikon 50mm F2 Non-AI really blew me away the first time I used it. It's pretty far down on the list of in-demand Nikon lenses, and not expensive these days, but what a fine lens - exceptionally well-made and a pleasure to use too!
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... this is true

I was given my copy to fill the hole in the front of an F3 I'd just bought, splendid lens ... and of course the f2.5/105 ... in all it's incarnations
 
inexpensive lenses

inexpensive lenses

i can easily second everyone's recommendation for the 40mm summicron and nikon 55 f3.5 micro, but would like to add this one for consideration:
Leica screw mount NIKON NIKKOR-HC 50mm f2

it's beautifully built, small, sharp, with moderate contrast, and focuses very closely.

greetings from hamburg

rick
 
nickthetasmaniac said:
Old stuff, any of the Pentax 50mm lenses I've used (except the K50/f1.2, which was great but hardly cheap...):
SMC Pentax-M 50/f1.7 - I think I got it for free...
SMC Pentax-M 50/f1.4 - One of my all time favourites, about $90AUD.
SMC Takumar 50/f1.4 - Lovely on b&w, about $100 with a Spotmatic F.
Click to expand...

+1

Further, I don't consider the Summicron 40mm and the Summitar as cheap lenses - prices a relatively high
and I consider most Cosina lenses not performing that well. So whats left:

IMHO the old FED, Industar and Jupiter lenses: they perform very well @ very low prices
 
One truly "cheap" lens that stands out, in my opinion, is the Pentax SMC 1.7 50mm (I had the M version, but I hear others are great, too.) Better build quality than the late 1.8 50 MIJ Zuiko lenses. Really the only "fault" are the six iris blades, more or rounder ones would have been nice.
 
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